bazookazilla wrote:Bad Goat Brewing wrote:Leaking check valves, or lack of check valves, can cause the pressure on the gauge to change with tempature changes.
What are check valves? How do you use check valves??
They're a device built into most regulators (except the bottom of the line, budget ones). They prevent back flow by only allowing gas to flow through them in one direction.
For instance, when beer warms up, CO2 comes out of solution which would increase head pressure in the keg. The check valve wouldn't allow that gas to flow backwards through the system. Most Sankey keg couplers also have check valves built into them. You don't have to "use" them per se, if they're working, they just work... but as Goat pointed out, if one is leaking or has failed it can cause all sorts of pressure problems.